By mission and by design, Western is committed to building an engaged learning community. It lives its mission as a leader in the educational, economic, cultural, and social development of the people and region it serves.

Since 2001, the University has developed and initiated plans for enhancing its facilities and other resources in order to build on the excellence for which it is already known.

Building the New American Regional University
In 2007, Western began to implement its newest strategic plan, Building the New American Regional University. The new strategic plan will solidify Western’s profile as a true model of the new American regional university. The new American regional university is interactive with the world around it. It is an active “citizen” of its region, partnering with others for the greater good.

In 2002, Western began to plan projects that will assemble facilities and resources to enable the University to build on its excellence and serve its students and community in the best possible way. Western received a Project Kaleidoscope grant, a program of the National Science Foundation and the W.M. Keck Foundation, in the amount of $250,000 to plan improvements to the science and mathematics instructional facilities. These improvements were to be completed when a capital funds allocation was received from the State of Missouri.

Step by step, Western has been developing strategies and plans for capital projects that will allow the University to reach beyond excellence in meeting the needs of students and the community.